Explorer Las Vegas | USA | March 2017

Explorer Las Vegas | USA | March 2017 Higher Stakes While the gaming tables at the casinos and big-name Vegas show performers attract millions of visitors, anyone visiting Las Vegas for retail is in luck too. It might be better known for roulette wheels, but shopping plays a big part in the city. As you would expect in Las Vegas, everything and everyone is competing for attention. But the biggest doesn’t always mean the best. Despite being a standout feature of the city’s skyline, The Fashion Show is far from the best place to shop. Bookending the top and bottom of the Las Vegas Strip are two outlet stores that feature all of the popular chain USA, European and World brands such as Gap Outlet, Aldo, Calvin Klein, UGG, Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Spade and Banana Republic. Both malls are cookie cutter in execution, and although they work, they fall short of meeting the high expectations that you would have of a Las Vegas retail destination. By Karl McKeever Founder & Managing Director visualthinking.co.uk The Forum Shops 3500 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109, United States To make an impression alongside multi-billion dollar leisure and entertainment complexes, retailers here must present themselves in their biggest and boldest form. The Forum Shops may not take the crown, but it does encapsulate the strange but addictive theatrics for which Las Vegas is famed, perfectly. Located within the internationally famous Caesars Palace, The Forum Shops is a place where everything and anything can be found within one huge premium, elegant experience. It’s just as big, just as sumptuous and just as popular as the resort and casino. It’s a place where winnings are to be spent, from the mainstream retailers such as H&M and Nike to the usual suspect upmarket brands like Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors. Each store is an example of the brands latest and greatest in store design, impactful visual merchandising and exceptional store standards. Retailers here must present themselves in their biggest and boldest form. Grand Canal Shoppes 3377 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109, United States What sets the Forum Shops apart from more traditional malls is the convincing aesthetic within. Instead of a modern mall, a Disneyesque Roman Street is waiting to greet shoppers. It’s pure kitsch. ‘Fake and cheesy’. And yet the whole phony illusion is both relaxing and tranquil. But the crafted illusion of an ancient and historic city isn’t just found within The Forum Shops. If anything, a more outrageous concept is the Grand Canal Shoppes – a huge upscale shopping and dining venue inside The Venetian Hotel & Casino and The Palazzo. visualthinking.co.uk The Shops at Crystals 3720 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89158, United States This mall goes beyond novelty, complete with indoor canals and gondolas that take shoppers from store to store. Here the “fakery” is much less convincing, and the reality settles for something more bizarre. It’s a version of retail in Las Vegas that for many years succeeded as both a popular and winning formula. Today however, it is becoming victim to novelty and tat. There has been a noticeable trend to move away from these themed ‘city’ confections in Las Vegas in recent years, with more predictable, less theatrical design aesthetics that are replacing the opulent parodies of Rome, Venice, Paris and even New York found within the city. It leaves Grand Canal Shoppes feeling more weathered theme park than boutique shopping hub. So while a host of international boutiques and chain store brands can be found inside, and I’m sure they get their worthwhile share of sales and footfall, it’s a location that really doesn’t suit brand It’s pure kitsch. Fake values. It’s especially true for the mall’s premium brand anchor tenant, Barney’s, which looks out of place and feels utterly lost. and cheesy. visualthinking.co.uk By contrast, Aria Casino is home to The Shops at Crystals. Modern, premium and exclusive, it’s a dedicated retail district and shopping mall full of high-end retailers, gourmet restaurants and art galleries. Water and frozen ice installations by the same designers of the famous water features at the Bellagio and The Dubai Mall complete the look – a bold statement of its exclusivity. With its very own monorail, shoppers can be quickly transported to the luxurious flagship stores of Tiffany & Co., Prada, Gucci, Roberto Cavalli, Dolce and Gabbana, Tom Ford, Ermenegildo Zegna and Paul Smith. This is a place for the luxury shopper to indulge in high-priced international brands, within a stylish interior and premium ambience. Las Vegas remains surreal, manufactured, loud and brash. With its spectacular, arid desert terrain, set against a valley backdrop of grey mountains, it shines like a glittering jewel in the sand. But it also has a human heart. It celebrates our failings and indulgencies – a heady mix of non-stop fun and the celebration of human enterprise, the luck of the game, and the chancer. But for shoppers, retailers and malls alike, Las Vegas is still, ultimately, all about the money – a place to ‘flash the cash’ in what remains one of the world’s most lavish cities Share visualthinking.co.uk Related Articles View More EuroShop 2017 Explorer Dubai Karl McKeever shares his thoughts from Düsseldorf In Dubai, how are the regular conventions of retail on EuroShop 2017. affected during Ramadan?.

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